Ruby Lane, founded in 1998, is a vintage online retail store based around independent member traders.

History

In 1998, Ruby Lane was founded by Tom Johnson and Jim Wilcoxson in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and named after Johnson's mother, Ruby. In 1998, Tom was collecting 1950s dishes and found it cumbersome to complete a set. As the Internet was in its infancy, searching for shops online was difficult and often proved fruitless. From there, the idea was hatched to create an easy-to-use online community of shops that showcase antiques and collectibles. In 1999, Ruby Lane, along with BiddersEdge and AuctionWatch, were involved in a notable disagreement with

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over 3rd-party sites indexing eBay listings. In 2005, Wilcoxson departed from the company, leaving Johnson as president and CEO. The tagline “Vintage Begins Here” was introduced in 2013. In 2019, Ruby Lane won Best Communications, Customer Service (a distinction achieved in seven of the 10 Seller's Choice Awards), and Most Recommended Site from ECommerceBytes. Additionally, the site ranked 2nd overall in 2019. In 2021, the site came in 3rd for the Seller's Choice award. In 2020, the site's sales sharply increased after the onset of the

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. The site began co-hosting online shopping as some antique stores and festivals were forced to cancel their in-person events.

Description

Ruby Lane sells

antiques An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

, vintage

collectibles A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

, vintage fashion,

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

dolls A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

, and

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

for sale by independent member dealers. Jewelry accounts for about half of the site's sales. Ruby Lane sells items at set prices rather than in an auction format, and the company does take commissions from sales. Each Ruby Lane shop is pre-screened by an in-house team of art and antique professionals and must meet specific standards before opening for business. All open shops are required to follow an ongoing, standard set of quality guidelines to help ensure that all items buyers see for sale are genuine and accurately represented. Along with GoAntiques and TIAS.com, Ruby Lane is considered one of the three major online vintage and antique marketplaces. As of February 2020, the site lists more than 575,000 items from more than 2,000 dealers around the world.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.rubylane.com/ Online retailers of the United States